Blizzard Needs a Different Approach.

I love Blizzard entertainment.

      Honestly, if they weren't in a place so crowded as California and I thought I had the talent my goal someday would be to work for them in some capacity.  Everyone I have met from the company, the way the love their own games, and the quality they aim for all impresses me.  They make me happy.

     Now I know that all seem contrary to the comment I made above.  I mean, I'm sitting here fan boying a bit, and you know I'm a fan since I run this blog, but my title implies something different.  The truth is after my last post on flying in Legion my mind has been on the big flight controversy in Warlords.

     I stated at the time and I will state it again.  I'm a firm believer that the biggest issue with the announcement of no flying was the way in which it was handled.  At the beginning of the expansion we were told flying would be added in a later patch, and then right before the final patch there is an interview where (I believe it was Hozzikostas) casually mentioned they had decided not to implement flying.  And the roar from the fans shook Azeroth.  Or at least Draenor.

     Much of the problem was with the way they presented it.  This should have been something aimed directly at the fans.  A post or a video you click on in you Blizzard loader that has Hozzikostas, or Metzen, or one of the other recognizable heads address the community head on and say "hey, we have decided to removing flying, and this is why..."  Instead having it said in the interview made it feel like it was something Blizzard was hiding and that it may have been a slip.  It raised the question, "If they hadn't said it here, would they have said it at all?"

     I admit to having a short term memory, because I don't remember many other outroars that were that big.  I know there was the moment when Blizzard decided to post on the forums your real name would be shown, but beyond that, nothing.

    It does feel however that when it comes to Warcraft we are not getting as much communication as we used to. I remember there being blue posts and messages constantly through other betas/alphas but both the betas for Draenor and Legion have felt quiet.  After Warlords dropped it felt a lot like Blizzards focus was on their other games.  I believe it's part of the shift where World or Warcraft used to be Blizzard's #1 property, and now we are sharing the spotlight.  It however does not feel good when it feels the focus has gone away and it leaves people wondering.

     Here is where I give some suggestions to Blizzard (I know, I'm a short fat dude and they have no reason to listen to me.  I'm going to speak anyway.)

    First of all, next time you have a decision that may be controversial take a moment and discuss it with the community rather than just making the decision.  The flight issue would have been mitigated by a lot if there had been some threads in the forums by blues saying "This is what we want to do and this is why, but we want your opinions."  Yes I know there would be a lot of whining and pointless crap to sift through, but you could also take the pulse and get the feedback from the community before making a change.  If it's something that would effect flying or another major mechanic you have given us, hold an open discussion with your fans.

    My other piece of advice could work for all your games.  Make sure you are talking to all your fan bases on a regular basis.  I don't know if having a monthly update on the state of the game is the way to go, but fight the feeling the community gets of, "well, we are in Alpha, I've got months before the next expansion and Blizzard doesn't care, I mean they are focused on Overwatch."  Make sure the doors of Blizzard tower feel open.  Find ways to communicate that you do care.  There is a reason that there is a #threetiersinthreeyears hashtag.  It's painful, but there it is. Warcraft needs to continue to feel like it's important to you as well as the community.  Long silences get interpreted by the community as you don't care.  Even though I know for myself that is not the truth.

    I know it seems over simple.  But this is a relationship we have with you Blizzard.  Like any relationship, you need to let the important people know you think they are important.  Otherwise overtime you loose them.

    Anyway, until next time.

Lag.

Flying into Legion.

It wasn't long ago we had "Flightgate" in Warlords of Draenor.

     Now let's be fair here.  There was little or no doubt after the community explosion over flying in Warlords that we would be getting flying Legion.  I myself am a fan of flying, but as I stated earlier, if it was removed from future expansions it wouldn't be a game breaker for me.  I think there are valid arguments on both sides, but that isn't the issue at hand.

     It was revealed that when patch 7.0 drops you will have your requirements for flying in Legion.  Like in Warlords it will be an achievement based.  What the achievement will be, I think it's pretty easy to guess.

     Plan on finishing all the main quest lines in all the areas relevant to your faction.  One of the main reasons Blizzard wanted to remove flying was to make sure everyone experienced the content in a good grounded fashion.  This meant not flying over mobs to kill the main baddy in a quest or skipping important content.  They are going to want you to experience the world in a way you have to interact with it.

     Plan on having reputation with factions.  This is where I pray faction reputation isn't the grindfest that it was in Warlords.  I never bothered focusing on any this last expansion because there were no rewards worth wasting my time pounding mobs.  The only factions that mattered to me were in Tanaan Jungle simply because that was how I had to earn flying.  Other than that I simply didn't care. This time around I hope that doing all the quests gets you most of the faction rep you need, otherwise I see this as a point of whining contention from some members of the community.

      Plan on doing class quests.  Part of getting flying on Draenor was the garrison quest lines and the dailies from there.  I would expect there will be some sort of quest line, maybe given on a weekly basis, that you have to finish to get flying, along with daily achievements.

    Don't plan on getting flying in the first patch.  From what has been seen the achievement thus far is part 1.  I do believe they mentioned on Convert to Raid that finishing part one will give you a speed increase on your ground mounts, but you won't get flying just yet.  This is going to be one of those things that we are probably going to get a few months into the game at the earliest.  I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they didn't release flying until the last patch of the expansion again.  I hope not, but it's possible.  This also means I won't be leveling as many alts initially as I normally do.  I like the ease of flying/questing when I've already seen the story.

    I do have some questions though.  Say they release flying earlier in the expansion.  Is it going to include all of our alts again? Or just the character who earned it?  I hope it will effect all of our alts but since in Draenor it was introduced at the end of the expansion, I could see Blizzard implementing it another way, and then opening it up to include all your alts later.

    What will happen with those who didn't earn flying in Draenor.  Obviously after the expansion ends people aren't going to want to hang around and earn the achievement for the most part.  There are exceptions here, but if you have a friend who gets the game and starts playing now, that means if you want to go run retroactive dungeons in Draenor with him, he is going to have to walk.  I am honestly hoping they open up flying in Draenor to everyone when Legion drops.  Or at least make it included if you get the Legion achievement.  I don't think this is a big deal, but it's a question I feel is at least worth asking.

   So, anything I miss or anything that needs to be added to this discussion?  Post below.

Lag.

Legion: From Alpha to Beta

So, as you have heard the Blizzard Beta is opening soon for Legion.

     Blizzard has officially closed off the Legion Alpha, and tomorrow as long as there are no unforeseen circumstances Legion Beta will be opening.

     Now, I've been vocal before on my opinion that the Alpha felt a lot like the Beta to me.  There was as expected a lot of unfinished business to play through.  Bugs and broken things.  However, it didn't take long to feel like it just needed to be polished from the little bit I played through. Now I have to admit that I didn't play far or extensively.  But I really think that a large  part of what Blizzard called Alpha would have been Beta in past expansions.

      So now the gates are opening to a larger crowd.  More folks to test what Blizzard has built so far.  This means that there is a lot of confidence on their part they are getting close to a finished product.  I am imagining a month or two of Beta as they start to put some meat on the bones of their product, and then Anywhere from end of June to end of July the pre-patch will drop.  I would love to say end of June, and of course other Betas recently in Warlords and Pandaria  the patch betas seemed to last about a month or so, but there is more work to be done here than in a standard beta for a patch.  While I would like to think we are getting our pre-expansion content sooner than later, I would put more money on later.

       What does that mean for us now?  Watch your email to see if your invited in for the Beta.  Be aware that there are scam artists out there that will be banking on folk clicking links in emails or signing up through such links.  Don't forget your internet safety.  If you get an invite check it out through your battle.net account.  Don't let excitement push you into something you regret.  Don't trust any Beta keys unless they are given through a reliable source.  Even then, make sure you don't fill out anything or click on any links.  Just take said key, if received and enter it in at the battle.net site.

     We are finally approaching the doorstep to the new expansion.  Very soon we will be breaking forth and fighting the Legion once again.  After that, who knows.  I have a guess from reading the book Illidan where we may go next.  Of course, at the same time I don't think the possibilities offered  would be great for the next expansion.  We need to have differences in expansions and the paths offered there would be a definite similar note if they followed those branches immediately. I think it will more likely be a second trip to Northrend as there is the Bolvar as Lich King and that story line I feel will need to be explored before we go  on anymore outer space adventures.

     So with three months left I'm going to work on getting my characters to that level 100 mark.  I want to have my options in line when the next expansion drops.  I am debating swapping to Demon Hunter as a main, but Lag will still probably get leveled first, as he is and has been my main unless there is a good reason to swap right away.

    So, what is everyone else's plans?

Lag